Patreon Freebie! Patricia Douglas: The Girl Who Took on MGM

2024-05-20

**Hi there, Misfits! We originally posted this episode on our Patreon back in April but have decided to release it for everyone. We hope you find this story as important as we did!** CW: This episode contains discussion of rape. Before Rose McGowan spoke out against Harvey Weinstein, before "MeToo" became a hashtag, before hashtags even existed, there was Patricia Douglas. Patricia - or Patsy, as she liked to be called - was a talented dancer living in Los Angeles in the 1930s. Her talent led her to dance in films with Ginger Rogers and...

**Hi there, Misfits! We originally posted this episode on our Patreon back in April but have decided to release it for everyone. We hope you find this story as important as we did!**

CW: This episode contains discussion of rape.

Before Rose McGowan spoke out against Harvey Weinstein, before "MeToo" became a hashtag, before hashtags even existed, there was Patricia Douglas. Patricia - or Patsy, as she liked to be called - was a talented dancer living in Los Angeles in the 1930s. Her talent led her to dance in films with Ginger Rogers and Busby Berkeley, and her innocent nature and complete indifference to fame and celebrity attracted the friendship of several stars, including Bing Crosby and William Frawley. But that would all come to an abrupt end. On what should have been a typical night of work at MGM studios, Patsy and dozens of other underage girls were shuttled to a remote location and tricked into thinking they were extras in a movie. Things couldn't have been further from the truth.

Episode Sources:

“It Happened One Night . . . at MGM” by David Stenn, Vanity Fair, Apr. 1, 2003

“Remembering Patricia Douglas, the first woman to call out Hollywood for sexual assault” by Raechal Shewfelt, Oct. 19, 2017

“The Systematic Crushing of a #MeToo Pioneer” by David Stenn, New York Times, Jan. 5, 2018

“How a Hollywood Studio Got Away With Rape in 1937” by Stephen Galloway, The Hollywood Reporter, Nov. 13, 2017

“MGM’s Eddie Mannix and the lives he ruined” by Karina Longworth, Nov. 6, 2015

“Girl 27: The Patricia Douglas Story” Mar. 2, 2024

“The Mammoth Book of Hollywood Scandals: The Rape of Patricia Douglas” by Michelle Morgan

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